The convening of an extraordinary session of the National Assembly tomorrow to examine the bill amending the Constitution, which would abolish the Hcct and the Cese, is an abuse of presidential power. While he has the prerogative to convene the Assembly, he does not have the constitutional powers to impose a date on the MPs, according to the experts. 

Is there a legal adviser at the Presidency? ‘I don’t think so’, assures an MP interviewed by telephone. The Palace press release, issued on Monday night, announced that ‘in accordance with article 63 of the Constitution, the President of the Republic has transmitted to the President of the National Assembly the decree convening the National Assembly for an extraordinary session on Thursday 29 August 2024, to consider the bill amending the Constitution’. ‘The proposed amendment to the Constitution concerns the abolition of the High Council of Local Authorities (Hcct) and the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese)’, he adds. A true emergency procedure with an agenda imposed on parliamentarians.

High Representative of the President: Mimi returns to the Palace

If President Faye has assumed part of his constitutional powers, he has also exceeded his prerogatives. Alioune Souaré, a former Member of Parliament and an expert on parliamentary issues, does not hide his astonishment when analysing the procedure used by the Presidency: ‘The National Assembly can meet in extraordinary session on an agenda determined by the President of the Republic. But the President has no prerogative to set a date, except in the case of the first session of a newly elected legislature (article 63 paragraph 1 of the Constitution)’. 

He even spoke of problems and interference by the executive in the workings of the legislature. For him, MPs need to make their mark. But how? ‘The session has been called, and they must postpone the date in order to assume their power and not submit to this presidential decision. It’s a way of demonstrating a real separation of powers’, he notes. What about the agenda for the extraordinary session?  ‘Articles 66-1 and 87-1 of the Constitution provide for the creation of the Hcct and the Cese, but none of its provisions specify the conditions for their dissolution by the National Assembly. As a result, the National Assembly has no power to debate the matter, unless it is asked to repeal or amend the aforementioned articles’, says Mr Souaré.

Dissolution of Hcct and Cese: Diomaye calls an extraordinary session of the National Assembly

Today, there is another obstacle that could block the holding of this extraordinary session called by the President of the Republic. ‘There is also the silence surrounding the promulgation of the law on the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly. No one is in a position to say whether the law has been promulgated or not! According to articles 71 and 72 of the Constitution, the law was passed at the close of the plenary session on Friday 16th of this month. After that, it had to be promulgated 4 clear days under the emergency procedure, i.e. since Wednesday 21 August 2024’, recalls the former MP. Obviously, this has not yet happened.  ‘It’s an act of confrontation. Everyone should confine himself to his own prerogatives, and this is very humiliating for the Assembly. If the President wants to dissolve the Assembly, he can do so, but the MPs must retain their parliamentary dignity’, said one MP. 

‘The communiqué is not binding on the National Assembly. It is a bill that has not yet gone through the Council of Ministers. What we are waiting for is for the President of the National Assembly to summon us so that we can get down to work’, maintains MP Cheikh Abdou Mbacké Bara Dolly. On this subject, a press release from the National Assembly informs that the President Amadou Mame Diop has summoned the members of the Bureau to an information meeting today at 11.30am.

For Benno, Sonko’s absence from the Assembly, with the blessing of the Head of State, is a hard pill to swallow. This absence, which no longer leaves any room for doubt, is becoming a tipping point between the two parties, who are finding it difficult to rise above their political and electoral pretensions. What next?

By Bocar SAKHO / bsakho@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH